Patrick Harris of Pacific Beach uses a smartphone to show an officer that he paid for a permit for him and his girlfriend to hike the Cedar Creek Falls Trail.

RAMONA

It was easy to see that things were different Saturday morning at the trailhead of the Cedar Creek Falls in Ramona.

At one point around 9 a.m., there were no less than a half-dozen law enforcement officers nearby, both U.S. Forest Service rangers and sheriff’s deputies.

There was no fooling around allowed. Each group of hikers was checked to see if they had purchased the newly required $6 permit needed to hike all the way to the falls, and each was questioned to make sure they had enough water and were carrying a cellphone — just in case something should go wrong.

The trail was officially reopened Friday to the public after having been shut down since July 2011 by the Forest Service. Officials decided something had to be done to quell the overuse of the trail. Teens and young adults had discovered the falls, and on some days hundreds would gather there. It had become a big party, complete with the sort of problems that parties bring, especially when the end of the party requires a strenuous 2½-mile hike up.

Hikers on Saturday, for the most part, seemed OK with the permit requirement, as well as the new rules banning alcohol and climbing or jumping from the cliffs that surround the pool at the base of the falls.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Kyle Whissel, 31, of Serra Mesa, who has made the trip to the falls many times in the past. “I don’t know how many deaths they’ve had, but there are too many stupid people coming out here that don’t know what they’re getting themselves into. I think it will help weed out the people who don’t belong.”

Phillip Meinzer, 33, of San Diego, agreed.

“I’ve seen some crazy stuff out here like kids jumping off cliffs way too high into water that’s way too shallow. I’m a little daredevil, but that’s just ridiculous.”

Patrick Harris and Courtney Osorio arrived around 8:30 a.m. without a permit. They hadn’t heard one was needed. But it worked out. There were still permits available for the day and, using a smartphone, they purchased one right then and there and showed a ranger proof.

In 2010 and 2011, a combined 60 helicopter rescues had to be performed in the area at great cost to the county.

The Forest Service decided, after studying the problem for more than a year, that one way to control the crowds was to institute the permit process. One permit is good for up to five people, and only 75 permits will be allowed each day. They can be purchased at
recreation.gov.

For now, rangers and deputies are on alert and very active. Whether it will remain that way over the course of the next few months is unclear.

The county recently filed a federal lawsuit trying to stop the reopening, saying that the Forest Service needs to contract with the Sheriff’s Department to pay for some of the costs. Another concern was the damage being done to the Thornbush Road neighborhood of the San Diego Country Estates where the trail begins. The huge crowds in past years led to parking issues, vandalism, littering and even many reports of public urination in the upscale residential community.

“Our current plan is to see how things go,” Senior Deputy County Counsel Bill Johnson said Friday. “We will be monitoring the situation and are taking a wait-and-see attitude.”